


Confusing Introductions

by PlayfulMay



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: BDSM, F/M, Misunderstanding, Voyeurism, protective
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-15 13:28:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7224226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlayfulMay/pseuds/PlayfulMay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Introductions to strangers and strange things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MercurialBianca_TheHonorableMrsMcCarthy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercurialBianca_TheHonorableMrsMcCarthy/gifts).



> Happy birthday to TheHonorableMrsMcCarthy!! What better way to celebrate than with ... this? I think.

Bert had parked the cab on the street late at night, assuming everyone at Wardlow to be asleep. He was on his way back from one of his frequently-visited clubs, and figured he would pick up the extra pay Mr. Butler had arranged to leave on the kitchen table for him. No trouble - it meant no conversations, the way he figured. He would just walk in and pick up the money.

When Bert let himself in at the kitchen side door, however, things suddenly became complicated.

Low groans could be heard from another room - a voice muffled perhaps. Curious and protective over everyone in the Fisher household, Bert quickly cut his way through the kitchen and dining room to the hall, where he found the sounds were coming from the parlour. They were not sounds he expected to hear if Miss Fisher happened to be enjoying herself in there - they were a desperate sort of sound that he certainly didn't recognize. Suddenly too worried to knock, he opened the door to see Miss Fisher mostly naked, huddled on the floor with a stranger leaned over her. Phryne's hands were tied behind her back with a blindfold covering her eyes and a gag in her mouth. Convinced there was a need for intervening, Bert stepped noisily in through the doorway.

"You!" he growled at the man, charging before the stranger could think to explain himself - caught completely off guard.

Bert strode over as the man got to his feet, and punched him in the face. By the time the man's back hit the wall, Phryne had wriggled free of the gag and was calling to the protector who had entered unannounced.

"I'm okay! I'm okay!" she shouted, trying to think who it might be. "It's not what it looks like!"

Bert was still glaring at the stranger with his fist cocked back as the man kept his hands at Bert's shoulders - trying to keep the attack at bay.

Could Phryne be serious? Bert wondered - had she really WANTED that?

"Whoever it is ... I'm sorry," Phryne panted, rolling onto her side - still blindfolded. "... I can't see ..."

"It's me, Miss. Bert," he answered, glaring at the nude stranger markedly in the eyes especially so as not to have to look at the rest of him. Naked body and all.

"This is all consensual," the man assured, impressively calm with the alarm that had just taken him off guard. His hands had Bert's vest in his fists, keeping him at a distance. "She's fine ... I haven't hurt her." The man had a rich accent that only made Bert want to slug him again.

"If you hurt her-"

"Bert," Phryne interrupted, calming herself. "Please let him go. I'd really rather not be lying here like this with you two wrestling. It's all rather strange."

"I'll say," Bert grumbled, letting the man go at last to turn to the window and run his hands through his hair. Just as he was sighing for the third consecutive time, Phryne's hand was gently on his arm, pulling his attention around again. She stood in a robe, smiling at him.

"I'm terribly sorry," she said, noticing the worry in his eyes. "I thought there would be no one to worry. It's just me here, and I've set the house to be empty all night."

"That's what worried me," Bert said glumly, pouting a little which only made Phryne's smile all the more sincere.

"Dear Bert, I'm so sorry. You've come to my rescue, but I'm afraid it's unnecessary. I was just ... Isaac here was just teaching me something ... specific ... that I asked to learn."

Bert's eyes cut into hers, as if to say she hadn't looked very willing.

"It might be difficult to understand," she said, steering Bert back into the hall while Isaac awkwardly pulled on his shirt and tucked them into his pants. Phryne stopped Bert by the stairs, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's a little hard to explain ... but I guarantee I'm absolutely safe. Isaac knows what he's doing."

"Do YOU know what he's doin', Miss?"

Phryne couldn't help but smile again, leaning in and giving Bert a kiss on his cheek. "You're the big brother I never had. But I assure you I can take care of myself. If I didn't want something to happen, Bert, I'd be very clear about that."

"He could have overpowered you," Bert muttered under his breath.

"He's definitely not that kind of man, Bert," she smiled softly. "I promise you."

"Yeah, well ..." Bert mumbled lamely, pursing his lips and huffing out another sigh.

"Isaac?" Phryne called, chuckling despite herself at the messy situation as it was clear Isaac had been punched in the face. "Will you please assure my friend here that you are very experienced and intend no harm to come to me?"

"Something tells me he's not likely to believe," Isaac grumbled, not entirely blaming Bert but frustrated nonetheless.

Phryne sent him a look: "Please?"

"Alright," Isaac sighed, looking seriously at Bert. "I enjoy taking control of women who want to give up that control. And I am NOT the sort of man to enjoy something not given of her free will, alright? The rush comes from the fact that she is fully able to refuse, and yet she is ... very ... very willing."

Phryne ignored the rough scratch of the man's voice as he finished his explanation, opting to fasten her eyes on Bert instead. And when he looked back to her, she smiled.

Bert looked back to the tall man in crumpled clothing and his expression grew harder. "Uh huh ... well just you watch yourself, Mister, because if she's got bruises ... you'll have me t'answer to, and I won't be so understandin' the next time 'round."

Phryne lovingly ushered Bert out with another round of thanks for his care before finding Isaac with a piece of ice in his hand, sitting on the kitchen table. She stood just admiring her sporadic bed partner for a long moment - taking in his rather large build and the gentleness of his face. She had always enjoyed Isaac's uniquely chiselled features, and way his blonde hair came down over his eyes. He was so vulnerable some moments and so desperately powerful the next ... she cleared her throat at the thought and sauntered fully into the room.

"I'm so sorry, SIR," she purred, hoping to rekindle the mood for the night. She thought to their interesting past, and consoled him: "It won't happen again."

"Yeah, well if you have more worried friends, I'm gonna have another black eye before the night is up," he grinned, wetting the sore cheek with icy water as the ice trailed over his skin.

"Poor man," Phryne said with care, taking the ice from his fingers to use it herself - soothing the injury. "Poor, beautiful man ..."

Phryne licked her lips as she looked to his still-naked chest and shoulders, blinking up at his face so as not to wander with her ice.

Isaac's humor was lifted with her gentle touch, and instigated one of his many teases: "I certainly didn't tie that gag tightly enough."

Phryne laughed: "No, you didn't. But thank goodness for that. You would have had a brawl with Bert in the nude. And ... I wouldn't have been able to watch ..."

Isaac took the ice back with a smirk, slipping off the table. "Horrible woman." He chuckled as he padded into the hall, and headed for the stairs.

"Don't leave me down here all by myself!" Phryne called with laughter, posturing her hands on her hips. "Well? Won't I be punished if I'm so horrible?"

Isaac paused on the third step, and smirked instinctively. He had so many options open to him when she got that desperate tone to her voice, but maybe the night WAS lost after all. Or maybe not. It was only a black eye after all, and Phryne ... well. Phryne was Phryne. She was the most amusing switch he'd ever met. As determined as a sub and thoughtful as a Domme while delivering an extraordinary amount of sass all the while.

Isaac grinned: "You're not gonna get your way tonight if I get my hands on you."

He had spoken without turning, frozen in place on the stairs. The gesture made Phryne feel all the more vulnerable - what was the look on his face? She shivered and suddenly allowed herself to feel the desperation she had felt before they'd been interrupted. She had been so close only to be disturbed before her climax. Was Isaac telling her he wouldn't release her from the misery of frustration all night? He'd never done that to her before. With her curiosity ignited, and she walked up the stairs to stand at his side, watching the grinning lick of his lips.

"So I can dominate YOU tonight then?" she teased, as if things would be so easy.

He looked at her with eyes that always sliced through her in an almost alarming fashion, and a grin settled on his lips at her expression. " _You can try _."__


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm having a dinner guest," Phryne answered with a buzzing contentedness that filled Dot's eyes with joy, too.

"Ooh, who is it?"

"An out-of-town guest actually," Phryne admitted carefully, seeing as Bert was still crunching away on his breakfast in the next room, and Jack was there with him - both men flipping through the paper. 

"Is it Isaac, Miss?" Dot blurted, despite Phryne's every effort to keep the name from coming up. Dorothy quite liked Isaac as he was always courteous and smiled kindly at others. There was something about the darkness of his brown eyes and the lightness of his blond hair that was also very catching. It had been months since Dot had seen him, and she wondered if they might all chat before he whisked Phryne off for a romantic date.

Phryne heard the rustling of Bert's paper hush from the other room. She didn't want to lie to Dot but she most certainly didn't want to admit that it was, in fact, Isaac visiting with her. "Before we chat, I have something to show you outside," Phryne said with breezy distraction as she took Dot's arm and walked them into the backyard.

Jack was looking with confusion over at Bert all the while, voicing his concerns once the ladies had closed the door behind them. "What's wrong? You've gone completely still. No more red-raggers to rustle up?"

"No. It's that damned Isaac."

Jack tucked his smile away as Bert explained in simple terms just what had happened weeks ago. He was shocked as Bert went on to explain what Isaac had said to make sense of the situation.

"If you ask me, the bloke had 'er brainwashed. There's no godly way Miss Fisher asked for all that."

Jack was quiet for a minute, thinking. He thought back to the Chinese brothel he had raided in his youth, and other such heinous places since, wondering if it really was only grubby men who enjoyed the play of dominance and submission. Could it be possible that women enjoyed the positions all the same? He sat there lost in thought until Bert spoke again.

"I'm gonna follow 'em tonight. You can come if you want. Might be best to have four fists if he starts pushin' her into what'e started the last time."

"Was he pushing her?" Jack asked, alarmed at the very idea.

"No, but he certainly wasn't gentle."

Jack agreed to go with Bert, prepared to burst in unannounced with the full force of the law. The two unlikely friends sat quietly in Bert's cab as they had parked on the street in front of a strange house for the supposed "dinner." They both sighed and expected there to be a long while of nothing before anything serious began.

"So when is Cec due back?" Jack asked for conversation, glancing out the window to see into the windows at a very kind and flirtatious Miss Fisher taking the strange man's face in her hands.

"Ahh, soon enough," Bert grumbled, as if he didn't miss his friend so dearly. "Family emergencies come up. I'm only glad 'is mum'll pull through."

"Me too," Jack said simply, having pulled his eyes away from the sight of the woman he loved, seducing another man. "You know ... we really ought to stake out the best entry into the house, in case things take a quick turn for the worse."

"Good thinkin'," Bert said, flinging himself out of the cab a little too noisily for Jack's liking, but they went along just the same, quietly along a hedge of bushes toward the wealthy-looking house.

They found another quiet place to tuck themselves in by a low window along the bedroom when Jack chuckled quietly to himself.

"What?" Bert asked gruffly only to hunch there next to Jack.

"I just ... I didn't even think how all this might look," Jack whispered. "Me. A police inspector. Lurking outside someone's bedroom window."

"Well, you heard what I said about Miss Fisher. You were worried," he explained, reaching up to peek through the window only to see nothing inside. "Nothin'. We'll probably hear 'im comin' in anyway."

Jack nodded and rested his back against the house. "I tend not to think clearly ALL the time after all."

"A woman'll do that to ya," Bert laughed, cutting himself short when Jack motioned they needed to keep quiet.

They sat for another ten minutes with only their thoughts until they heard a noise and Bert looked in again. It was a large window with the corner of the drape pulled back only slightly in the one corner, so he was sure they could keep their visual as things drew on. When Bert spotted the twosome entering the room, he whacked the inspector in the arm. "Take a look!" he hissed. 

Jack was already crouching up to see with the sound he also recognized - Miss Fisher's contagious laugh.

Inside the room, Phryne was backing her way inside with the bottom of Isaac's tie in her grasp. She was laughing at the guilty look on his face, pulling him in and then easily pushing him back onto the bed. Before either Jack or Bert could look away, she pulled her dress over her head to reveal a black corset that insinuated a great amount of deliberation on her part. But why a corset?

Jack and Bert both watched silently with overtly curious gazes.

They could hear her voice mumbled through the glass, but not exactly what she was saying. When she pulled the mysterious Isaac's tie a little tighter, they heard him begging for something, followed by Phryne's infectious laughter again.

When she lightly slapped Isaac across the face, Bert and Jack both tensed with wide eyes. Neither could understand what was suddenly happening - the twist of events. It was most certainly NOT what they expected to find.

Phryne lowered him to the bed with a hand over his throat - pinning him there with a smoldering grin - and Jack swallowed hard. There was something different in her eyes. It was a very different side to her than he had ever seen before. Suddenly he felt miserable for witnessing it without her knowledge. Jack ducked beside the house again with his back to the siding. Breathing to calm himself. Bert whispered down to him all the while as if Jack had asked for a play-by-play.

"Maybe she's gettin' even with 'im!" Bert ventured as he continued to watch with confusion to the scene unfolding. "Uh, I ... I'm startin' to think he was tellin' the truth, Inspector."

"Uh huh?" Jack asked distractedly, still the image of Phryne over-taking a larger man in his mind. "And why is that?"

"She's covered his eyes just like he's done to HER, but he ain't fightin' it."

Jack quickly scrambled around to peer in through the corner of the window again alongside Bert.

With Isaac lying flat on his back, Phryne pinned his arms at his sides - with only her legs - to sit astride his face. Her heat remained just out of reach of his mouth as she grinned down at him and raked her fingers through his hair. She trailed her nails over his naked abdomen when she reached behind herself, and teased the waist of his trousers only to rake her nails back up. She scratched him wickedly in the process.

"Okay, that's enough," Jack breathed, spinning around to rest against the house at his back once again. "I ... that's enough for one night. I think we can properly conclude she's in no danger."

"Yeah, but look at HIM!" Bert whispered with snorted laughter that had Phryne suddenly turning toward the window at the noise.

"Go!" Bert laughed quietly, shoving Jack so they both tumbled from the hedge and hurried to the other side of the house. Bert sat at the corner, watching the bedroom window give way to a very familiar face angrily looking out to the darkening surroundings for signs of a possible intruder.

"There's no one there," Bert and Jack could hear the man, Isaac, insist. "Come back to bed."

"Now you're telling me what to do ...? That will get you in trouble. Don't make me hurt you."

Jack swallowed hard, pleading in silence for her to close the damn window. He didn't want to have to sit there and hear her sexual threats.

"Whatever you want, Mistress ..."

It was the last thing Jack and Bert heard before the window was promptly shut again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curious Jack is surprising ...

Cec had just gotten back into town, and had been caught up on many events in his absence. He was particularly surprised by Bert's recount of the stakeout performed with Jack to ensure Miss Fisher's safety. Cec had laughed and asked if Bert was being truthful or pulling his leg. Apparently it had been the truth, but Cec wasn't likely to believe it. Bert had made it sound all a little too melodramatic, and Bert had been known to send a joke or two his way.

However, as he was walking down the street toward Miss Fisher's place, he furrowed his brow at the way Miss Fisher was closing the drapes - Jack standing uncertainly behind her. Was Jack _nervous _? Detective Inspector Jack Robinson - the cool and collected man of City South made actively nervous by Miss Fisher?__

__Suddenly Cec was curious, but he was not the type to spy. He stood wondering what to do for some time before finally figuring that knocking politely on the door would sate his curiosity. He would borrow the cab like he had planned and meet Bert at the club without any trouble. He would just check to be sure it was alright to take the cab. No harm in knocking on a door._ _

__When he did knock, standing calmly on the front porch with his hands in his pockets, he was quite taken aback by the sight of Miss Fisher in a lovely robe - eyes sparkling._ _

__"Uh ... Miss Fisher."_ _

__"Cec."_ _

__There was something very different about her - something perhaps she had tried to shake for the momentary interruption, but couldn't. Cec had never seen a woman look so fierce in all his life. He realized he had forgotten to breathe._ _

__"I ... I was wonderin' if I could borrow the cab, Miss."_ _

__"I'll have to grab the keys," Miss Fisher answered calmly - almost too calmly. There was a smooth quality to her voice that was quite unsettling. And the way she floated down the hall with such confidence ... it was as if she owned the world in its entirety._ _

__Cec stepped in to catch sight of something out of the corner of his eye - arms pulled out of sight from the couch in the parlour. Tied arms? Cec looked with wide eyes down the hall, wondering if Phryne had tied Jack up in the parlour. All he could do was blink._ _

__"Tell you what," he heard from down the hallway, where Miss Fisher appeared at last with keys dangling from one very menacing finger. "Why don't you keep the taxi for the night, and I'll ... see you tomorrow morning?"_ _

__Cec swallowed, and nodded when his voice failed him._ _

__"Uh huh," Miss Fisher smirked, showing him out with a kind hand at the top of his back that gave him a strange rush. She was a very different woman that night than he had seen before, and he didn't understand it. He turned to look at her as he stepped out onto the porch, awestruck._ _

__Phryne had to admit to a certain fascination with that look in a man's eyes. It had been the look she'd received on other occasions with men, but not Isaac. Isaac had been the one man to understand her needs fully from their very first encounter. And then she grinned at the thought of Jack hiding and embarrassed in her parlour. She did so enjoy a shy man in bondage._ _

__When she realized Cec hadn't said a word since entering the house, Phryne took Cec's hand, dropped the keys in his palm, and closed his fingers over it._ _

__"Drive safely, Cec."_ _

__Finally, Cec found his voice again and responded shyly: "Yes, Miss."_ _

__She watched him scurry off and grinned at the retreating figure before shutting the door and locking it for safe measure. She was still grinning when she walked to the doors of the parlour and found Jack uncertainly cornered in the large room, obviously wondered in the world he had been thinking to ask for such an education._ _

__Why had he even been interested? Why on earth had he asked her to show him what it meant to be dominated? Jack Robinson wasn't interested in such things? Yet she had so much power with that look in her eyes, like she owned him. Like she had always owned him. Jack's eyes went immediately to the floor when she stared at him._ _

__"Jack ... there's no need to be frightened."_ _

__He cleared his throat and stood as tall as his height would allow, looking at her: "I'm not frightened."_ _

__"Well, you asked for me to show you and-"_ _

__"At your offer, I might remind you."_ _

__"You mentioned it ..." Phryne smirked with just one corner of her mouth, adoring that about Jack. He had always been her equal, and as much as she enjoyed that in public, she had been yearning to dominate him ever since she realized he wanted her back._ _

__"Jack?"_ _

__He sighed and made a point of not looking directly at her: "You think you might untie me?"_ _

__"Oh, I haven't shown you what you've come here for yet."_ _

__"I believe being interrupted in such a situation is quite enough for one night."_ _

__Without a word, Phryne crossed the room to his shy but steady corner, and ran her fingers over his tie. "Are you ... telling me you'd like me to stop ...?" She tugged gently on his tie, and unfastened her robe to ease it down from her shoulders - feeling it drop to the ground._ _

__Jack swallowed when the sight was allotted to him again - Miss Fisher in a corset and rather tight knee-length skirt. He had never seen her all in black before, and the contrary complexion of her skin gave him shivers. There was so much of her exposed ... and yet she held all of the power. He so yearned to understand the feeling._ _

__"I ... I uh ..."_ _

__"I will keep my promise, Jack," she said so quietly it was almost a whisper. "No sexual contact ... just ... a give you something to contemplate. I know you're not ready for more, but are you going to let that frighten away your curiosity?"_ _

__As much as he didn't like to be goaded into anything, she was right. He had held onto his curiosity in private for weeks since watching her through a window, and there would be no other way to find his answers._ _

__Slowly, Jack inhaled and held his breath - looking her in the eye._ _

__"You promise not to ... mark me."_ _

__"Nothing so intense," she chuckled, already leading him to the couch for the second time that evening._ _

__"I'm not scared of you. I just can't ... have others-"_ _

__"Knowing?" she teased, giving him a push to see him fall back uncertainly with his hands tied at his back - Jack's shoulders adjusting to keep himself comfortable in his place. "Oh, Jack ... I only want you to understand this very real feeling. I won't hurt you, Dear. If you're uncomfortable, you tell me to stop, and I will."_ _

__Jack swallowed hard, blinking at her: "And Isaac?"_ _

__"Isaac is a very different story," Phryne smiled honestly, sitting somewhat innocently over his knees. She put her hands gently through his hair, and stared through him. It was a startling ability she had, to overcome him with a single look._ _

__Jack cleared his throat, keen on continuing his investigation. "I ... just wonder because ... you're quite rough with him, I believe."_ _

__"So you WERE there that night," Phryne chuckled, tracing her fingers down from his hair to his chin, and then up toward his lips. "I knew someone had been spying on me. And poor Isaac, of course."_ _

__Then she laughed, and when she braced both her hands on his shoulders, Jack felt he understood the feeling of being the strong helpless man she desired to control. He was strong but making himself weak to please her. Able at any moment to overpower him should she desire it._ _

__He swallowed again. "I didn't mean to look on ... I was worried about you."_ _

__"With _Isaac _?" Phryne laughed for only a moment more, looking Jack over. "Dear Jack ... Isaac is possibly the softest man you could care to meet. In most circumstances, that is ..."___ _

____"Softer than me?" It was an instinctive question, but he regretted it the moment he'd asked. Before he could take it back, Phryne's finger was pressed to his lips._ _ _ _

____"Yes, Jack ... generally softer than you. Which is what excites one so much about dominating a man such as yourself ..."_ _ _ _

____He hesitated to fire back another question when she was tugging at his tie so confidently. Was she undressing him?_ _ _ _

____"Sit up," she commanded so plainly he found himself responding._ _ _ _

____She pulled off his tie and moaned as she leaned him back against the couch again. "Oh, Jack ... you don't know my weakness for an obedient man ..."_ _ _ _

____What did one say to that? He blinked at her, willing himself to think of something clever to say back. Was she just confessing things she enjoyed? How could he match her audacity to do it so openly? He saw only one opportunity: "And my weakness for a disobedient woman."_ _ _ _

____He saw Phryne grow suddenly calmer, but with a suddenly narrowed eyes - lust crackling like a fire through her body._ _ _ _

____"Jack ... be careful. You'll enthuse me."_ _ _ _

____He smiled that he seemed to be winning the tug-of-war that made up the game of domination? Or was he playing improperly?_ _ _ _

____He watched after her when she lifted from his knees and walked to the other side of the room, collecting an item and walking back toward him._ _ _ _

____"A part of all this can be ... props, Jack. Were you aware of that?"_ _ _ _

____Was she holding a blindfold? He swallowed hard and looked at her with uncertainty. "I ... guess. Yes, I was."_ _ _ _

____"I won't try them on you today, but I just wanted you to know that the entire game isn't so gentle and slow. It all depends on the players ... on the intended outcome ..."_ _ _ _

____"And your intended outcome?"_ _ _ _

____"To have you lose that calm façade," she smirked, looking to the blindfold in her own hands. "To have you-" she cleared her throat. "To have my partner ... beg me for what they most desire."_ _ _ _

____"You don't enjoy giving them what they most desire?" he asked curiously, nervous when Phryne lowered to her knees before him. His eyes grew wide, and he had fully intended on listening to her answer, but all he could recall was something about begging. He hadn't been listening._ _ _ _

____Phryne gently pulled his knees a little wider apart, but kept her distance. Jack couldn't even his breathing - he was panting helplessly, feeling very foolish indeed._ _ _ _

____To keep his wits about him, he asked about another player of the game: "And Isaac? He ... submits to you, does he?"_ _ _ _

____"And I to him on occasion," Phryne admitted freely, retreating from Jack with a grin in her eyes. "You seem awfully curious about Isaac, Mr. Robinson."_ _ _ _

____Jack smiled at her playful attitude. "I ... don't mean to. I'm trying to distract myself from ... whatever power this is you have over me."_ _ _ _

____"Good," Phryne teased, slipping off one of his shoes._ _ _ _

____"I ... I thought the meaning of all this was to have me do those things ... for you? Wait on you hand and foot."_ _ _ _

____She shot him a very heavy look, riddled with lust: "I would enjoy that, Jack, but that's not what I want right now."_ _ _ _

____"And ... w-what do you want?" he asked, feeling her slip off his sock to leave his foot bare._ _ _ _

____"To keep you guessing, Inspector ..."_ _ _ _

____It was working. Not that he would admit it so easily to her._ _ _ _

____"Yes," Phryne continued. "Something told me you wouldn't be so easily overtaken ... and that's just how I'd like it. You always did propose a challenge, Jack."_ _ _ _

____When her hands were at his belt, he did everything in his power not to react. She had promised no sexual contact, and he knew she would keep to her word. It wasn't so appealing to have her hands at his belt ..._ _ _ _

____"You like ... that I'm ... difficult?"_ _ _ _

____"I choose different lovers for different reasons."_ _ _ _

____Jack swallowed while she took her damn time pulling the belt free. "Different ... reasons?"_ _ _ _

____As Jack watched Phryne lay out his tie, shoe, sock, and belt on the ground, his eyes raked over her. He had never felt so determined to find himself on top of a woman in his life. To be physically on top of her. He found that Phryne showing her desire to dominate him was bringing out a very interesting reaction._ _ _ _

____"I think I might keep them," Phryne grinned back at him, over her shoulder: "Start a collection."_ _ _ _

____He shook his head at her, imagining how it would feel to pin her on her back. Then he shut his eyes and shook the image away. If Phryne desired to tease him, so be it. Jack Robinson did not have dominant tendencies. He didn't fantasize in that way._ _ _ _

____He cleared his throat and spoke to distract himself from his own thoughts: "You have yet to show me what it means to be dominated, Miss Fisher. So far all you've done is manage to steal pieces of my wardrobe."_ _ _ _

____Phryne stood to her feet with her hands down at her sides, walking over to him with such purpose, he shifted uncertainly._ _ _ _

____She leaned over him with her hand very gently over his throat, daring him to look away from her._ _ _ _

____"When I sincerely dominate you, Jack Robinson ... you won't have that smart tongue about it. I promise you that."_ _ _ _

____He let out his held breath as slowly as he could: "... When?"_ _ _ _

____"And if," she stated, pushing a little deeper with her index finger and thumb to have him completely focused on the sensation. "Because you are one difficult man."_ _ _ _

____At that, Jack smirked back: "Difficult? Funny, I would say that about you."_ _ _ _

____"Yes, the difficult ones always make for the most dedicated submissives. I still haven't been able to push past some of Isaac's softer limits ... but you ... I have a feeling about you ..."_ _ _ _

____Jack tried desperately not to enjoy the sensation of her hand gripping at his throat, but it was exhilarating. And when she let go and started tracing his lips, he yearned for the sensation to return. Could it be possible that a small amount of discomfort was pleasurable? He wondered immediately what it might mean for her to inflict pain. And what kind of pain would it be? Where?_ _ _ _

____"I think this is just about enough for one night," Phryne rasped, both of her hands on his shoulders._ _ _ _

____"Why?"_ _ _ _

____"For starters, you've broken free of the careful knots I've used for your wrists ..."_ _ _ _

____Jack stilled himself for a moment when he realized what she was saying, squeezing his hands to notice them at her hips. Was he pulling her closer? How long had his hands been there? And why wasn't he letting her go? Why was the need to touch her so incredibly strong?_ _ _ _

____And yet she straddled herself so willingly over his lap ... Jack looked up at her with hooded eyes as she spoke._ _ _ _

____"Jack ... I promised no sexual activity, and I'm afraid I keep my word. You're not accustomed to this situation, and it can have a strong reaction ..."_ _ _ _

____He licked his lips and balled his hands at his sides to release her hips. He looked up at her and nodded._ _ _ _

____"As enticing as this is ..." she teased, climbing off his lap after a brief lingering over his groin. She so desired to sit on top of him, but her dominant persona held a powerful amount of self control. So she slipped off of Jack's lap and walked over to gather her robe in her hands. Pulling it slowly onto her arms and tying the silky garment snug around her waist. She turned back to Jack to see him staring without pause into her eyes. "You are a curious man, Jack. And something tells me you might be more able at domination than submission."_ _ _ _

____"Something tells me the same about you," Jack said evenly, a low growl enunciating his words as he wished away his erection so he could stand._ _ _ _

____"For the right man ... I might be willing to try new things."_ _ _ _

____"For a man, inexperienced?"_ _ _ _

____"With sex? Oh, you poor thing," she teased horribly, pursing her lips to keep from laughing at the look that quickly took over his face. "Are you a virgin, Jack?"_ _ _ _

____"I'm not in any condition to come over there, Miss Fisher. So don't tempt me."_ _ _ _

____"To what? Put me over your knee?" she said, immediately regretting her choice of words. She didn't want to confess her desire to have him spank her. She didn't want to put too many expectations on him, too soon. After all, they had never even made love, and Jack was such a tender-hearted man._ _ _ _

____He surprised her thoroughly a few moments later when he carefully stood and walked over to her - slipping an arm with gentlemanly composure around her waist and kissing her cheek. "Goodnight Miss Fisher," he whispered, keeping his painful erection from pressing against her. She watched in stunned silence as he simply collected his things, and nodded to her with a smirk of his own from the parlour doors: "It's been an enlightening evening."_ _ _ _


End file.
